Figures released by the council earlier this year revealed that Nina Killen, who is the Labour councillor for Harington ward in Formby, was the only one of the council’s 66 members to claim the ‘Dependents’ Carers Allowance’.

Sefton’s scheme of allowances states that councillors may claim up to £60 per week in order to pay “addition- al expenses in order to arrange care for depen- dents.”

Cllr Killen, a mother of three children, aged 3 to 5, claimed £1,263.85 in 2012/13.

A number of Conservative coun- cillors, including Cllr Denise Dutton, took to Twitter to criticise Ms Killen, with Sefton Central Conservative Party Chairman Simon Jamieson also contacting BBC Radio Merseyside to air his views.

He said: “There are 66 councillors in Sefton and only one claims this allowance.

“It is not a child care allowance, but a carer’s allowance, so it applies for people with disabled caring needs who serve on the council.

“Nina has work outside the council and her husband has a good job.

“We feel that, when Sefton Council have made £140 million of cuts, it is up to elected rep- resentatives to show an example.

“All the councillors have taken a pay cut and we do not think it is unreasonable that, when the rest of us are making a stand and doing our bit, why one councillor choose not to?”

He said: “I do not think it is fair that councillors are being paid baby- sitting money. Why should the taxpayer pay for your child care?

“I have a young family and we have never claimed because we believe it is our personal responsibility to look after our children and pay for it.

“We are supposed to be all in this together and there are people out there struggling to pay baby- sitting fees. It is not right.”

Cllr Killen has hit back at her critics and con- firmed that she has made a formal complaint to Sefton Council regarding Cllr Dutton’s and Cllr Jones’s behaviour.

She said: “I think it is a disgrace for a fellow councillor to attack me on a public forum like Twitter for claiming legitimate childcare expenses.

“I can understand the argument that most people do not get their childcare expenses paid when they work, but that actually excludes many women from many jobs.

“Do we want women to be excluded from being councillors because they cannot afford childcare?

“Me being a councillor puts a lot of strain on my family life and I wouldn’t be able to do it if I didn’t receive the childcare allowance.”

Cllr Killen, who works part-time as a features sub-editor on the Daily Express in Preston, said she would not be able to be a councillor without paying for childcare.

She added: “The Tories say I wouldn’t have my childcare allowance paid in the private sector but I have had to give up work in the private sector so that I can be a councillor, because I just could not fit it all in.

“I have done nothing wrong so what point are they trying to make? The public hate this sort of gutter politics and rightly so. What does this say to other mums who might be thinking of standing for office? I think it is a disgrace and I deserve an apology.”